The photographs in this exhibition were taken between 1888 and 1916 by the London-based firm Bedford Lemere & Co. Most are the work of Harry Bedford Lemere (1864-1944), one of the best architectural photographers of his day. He travelled the country taking pictures of the homes of the rich, sometimes as a record for their owners, sometimes for professional decorators or architects. The wealth of late Victorian and Edwardian Liverpool often brought Harry Bedford Lemere to Merseyside. Liverpool, the second port of the British Empire, was at the height of its prosperity at the time. Most of its leading citizens were successful merchants, trading in goods imported through the docks. There were also shipowners, bankers, insurers and lawyers, and manufacturers in food processing and the chemical industry.